Family Concert: Tell Stories with the Bomba Drums

Join us at the CMA’s Community Arts Center for a free family-friendly performance led by Dr. Raquel M. Ortiz entitled “Tell Stories with the Bomba Drums,” where everyone is invited to drum, sing, and dance to yubá, cuembé, sicá, and leró Afro–Puerto Rican bomba beats. This bilingual concert is inspired by Dr. Ortiz’s book When Julia Danced Bomba (Arte Público Press, 2019), in which Julia has to dance a solo at a bombazo and she’s super nervous. Will she be able to listen to and feel the bomba beat?

Prior to the concert, families are encouraged to participate in the CAC’s art-making activity to create and decorate small drums that can be used during the performance.

Dr. Ortiz, an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker, is a social anthropologist, educator, storyteller, playwright, performer, poet, composer, editor, illustrator, and author of children’s books and songs. Her bilingual stories about Afro-Caribbean and Latinx culture invite children and adults to join in on adventures, featuring children as the protagonists so that they see and celebrate their creativity and valor. More information about Dr. Ortiz can be found on her website.

The views expressed by performers during this event are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cleveland Museum of Art.